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Kakka irachi / erachi ularthiyathu - Kerala Clams Roast

Hope all in US had a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner , enjoyed and indulged in the mad shopping frenzy of Black Friday and relaxed on the weekend ! We had a blissful thanksgiving ... Oh boy , I am a happy successful host ...

The only thing that worries me after this long weekend is the guilt of eating too much , feeling heavy and total crap! I am trying to reset the button with meditation.....Thank god , the lent starts within days , wink ...

.......She was there everyday except Sundays , with a wide mouthed aluminium vessel balanced on her hip covered with a thin polythene sheet , and underneath a reserved "kutti" of clams. She brought the smell of oceans with her...

She was in her late 70's , with a heavy body in traditional "chatta and lunki", salt and pepper hair , and tobacco stained teeth...We called her " Kakka Erachi Ammachi .

I never knew her name , didn't bother to ask anyone , until one day my mom mentioned to me about the clams lady's death. I came to know then , her name was "Kunjorotha".

Kunjorotha ... somehow I couldn't fit her into that name ... how could I know a person for so long and not know her name!

She took the first bus from her rural kuttanadan village - famous for freshly caught clams -with a silver colored big " charuvam " full of the same , travelled to changanacherry everyday in the wee hours of the morning , to earn a livelihood.

Our house or I should say our long verandah in the back of our house was her last stop , where she would stay put for a light nap for a while , ate hot food my mom gave her , before she took the afternoon bus back home. On saturdays and off school days she used to tell us stories, old happy stories and sometimes sad , weeping and wiping her tears on the "lunki"..Thus I knew her grandfather " Kachan" and her husband " Thomman" used to work in the paddy fields owned by mom's family in Kuttanad.

Whenever I make some kakka erachi here -which I started to do recently- it reminds me of her laughter and tears , her old stories , and my mom's generosity. I know my mom wasn't just paying her for the clams she brought everyday for us , but for her dinner too, though she never told us. Unknowingly mom was instilling in us some virtues ....

..how food is so tangled in memories ....and how those memories are snuggled somewhere in the cloudy corner of my mind, waiting to be collected by me!

Clean and rinse clams well. Bring to boil 3 cups of water , and add clams to it . Let it stand on a medium flame for 3 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and drain again and keep aside.
Add Vinegar or lime juice and salt and keep aside while we make the masala.
Lightly crush all the ingredients in Bowl 1 in a coffee grinder , food processor or small jar of your mixie.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add chopped shallots and curry leaves. Saute till it is soft for like 6-7 minutes.
Add coconut cuts and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the crushed mix and saute till the raw smell disappears and it turns to brown.
(Add tomato if you are using it now and saute till the oil separates )
Add red chili flakes , chili powder , turmeric and (coriander if using) and combine well, fry for a minute or two..sprinkle a table spoon of water if needed.
Add the clams , mix well , and cook covered on a medium flame for 10-12 minutes.( add a 1/4 cup water if needed)
Crush the black peppercorns.
Uncover the pan, add garam masala , crushed black peppercorns , some more curry leaves and saute .
Drizzle a tablespoon of oil , saute till it turns dry and brown.
Serve warm.

@ Merry..hey i got this clams from Shoprite here..I don't know whether they have this store in CT..but all grocery stores i guess carry it, check in the seafood section , next to shrimp and scallops..Clams and mussels area bit different right..Kakka erachi and kallumekka anennu thonnunnu..

Happy to know u had a wonderful thanks giving. That memory behind clams is very touching dear....yes, we sometimes forget to ask the names....fish sellers used to become part of our routine in India and I too associate those memories while buying the same kind of fish here:) Never tasted clams till now...your recipe and picture tempts me to buy some:) Yummy!

The best thing about looking at this recipe for me is that I can make it without sweating about the cleaning part! I am going to the farmer's market next week and cleaned mussels are definitely on the list.:) Thanks.

Sarah, lovely pics and great write up. You took me back to my childhood memories too with many wonderful persons like this 'Ammachi' which I too remember when something relatively comes up. Btw ur blog is just a fabulous space with lovely Kerala recipes and many more. your write ups shows your passion n ur space has a professional touch :)Do visit my space too when you find time..http://cook-ezee.blogspot.com/

Hey Sarah !, I got just the meat , like we get back home. I then rinsed it many times in the warm water , squeezing the meat all the while , for a couple of times..Then boiled it for a couple of minutes and drained! My mom used to squeeze out something from inside those rounds and some black lining around , but someone told her thats the good part and she topped doing it!..

I have been a silent reader of your blog for sometime now.love reading your stories..kakka irachi is one of my favorites.my mom used to squeeze out something from it.so I used the canned chopped one that we get in US.

your pics are so mouthwatering that makes me want to try them out!!!Awesome work and a huge thank u for being an inspiration to people like me..

Hi Sarah,I check this often not for the recipe but for the story,I too am from kottayam.as you have said I knew lot of such chedathis whose actual name we never bothered to ask.really missing all those virtues and those times